Travel Agent vs Travel Concierge - What is the difference

Difference between a Travel Agent and Travel Concierge

​A travel agent is a salesperson who generally represents and sells only certain cruise lines, hotels, or vacation packages. Their offerings are limited to ONLY the brands they sell and do not give their clients different companies/options to choose from. They generally have a set sales target required in order to maintain their commission structure or job with a company. You can often find great travel (packaged) deals through some Travel Agencies, however they will not be customisable and once booked, you will not have much further support from your Travel Agent.

A travel concierge is a professional travel advisor.  A true Travel Concierge will have a vast knowledge of specific areas/regions/countries that they specialise in. A good Travel Concierge has personally experienced the offerings they put forward to their clients, to ensure they have first hand knowledge they can share with you. A Travel Concierge will take the time to understand your requirements and goals and curate their advice to meet these requirements. Most importantly, they look out for your safety and can anticipate any hiccups you may experience before you even realise it and plan around these so you can enjoy a hassle-free vacation. When you work with a Travel Concierge you have the comfort of knowing that if something goes wrong, you have someone to contact before, during or after your vacation.
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What makes BACK IN TOWN Unique

Not only are we a professional (boutique) Travel Concierge agency that specialises in South Africa, but we are local, with our finger on the pulse and passionate about our spectacular country. We love sharing our knowledge of the lesser-known local spots, best times to travel, what to do and where to eat with our discerning travellers like you. Our goal is to truly focus on making your trip to South Africa the best it could possibly be, from your perspective (vision / expectations), guided by our knowledge, attention to detail and care.

How much does a Travel Concierge Cost?

In a word; ZERO! You will never pay more when booking through us than if you were to book directly yourself.
Unlike many other luxury travel concierges around the world, we do not charge any fees for our services when you book your accommodation activities and excursions through us. 
Well then you may ask, how do we make any money right? The way it works is that we work tirelessly at building and nurturing valuable relationships within the tourism and hospitality industry within South Africa. We try to personally visit as many accommodation establishments as possible on a regular basis, and from those, we hand pick, which ones we feel confident in recommending to our discerning clients. 
In return for our select bookings, the establishments pay us a commission. There is a standard commission structure in South Africa and therefore no incentive for your Travel Concierge to try and push one property over another, this truly allows us to prove that our clients preferences and wishes are our true focus!

If you have any further questions to see if our services would be a good fit for you on your next trip to South Africa, we'd love to hear from you. You can leave your questions below in the comment box or reach out to us via email: [email protected]